Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders ran for 2,053 yards in 1997. He's one of only six running backs in NFL history to reach the 2,000-yard mark.

On Sunday against the Chicago Bears, Calvin Johnson could become the first NFL receiver with 2,000 receiving yards in a season. He broke Jerry Rice's all-time record on Saturday night. Now he just needs 108 yards to reach 2,000.

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"That would be big, kind of almost put that thing away for a while,'' Johnson said on Thursday. "All records are meant to be broken, but that'd make it tough.

"It'd take a long time for somebody to come and get that. You never know what could happen next year, but it'd be a tough one, you've got to put in a lot of work to get that,'' said Johnson who would know.

Rice's record had stood since 1995 and there have been plenty of top wide receivers come and go in the NFL since then.

"He's taken it up another notch every year, he's taken it up maybe a couple this year,'' Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. "He's had to pick up the slack for some guys missing, he gladly does it. It's so impressive what he does, but it's more impressive the way he goes about his business. I think that's what sets him apart from a lot of other guys.''

Coach Jim Schwartz certainly would never take anything away from Johnson, but because of the way the game has changed offensive records may not last as long as they have in the past.

"Teams aren't afraid to throw 50 times a game. It used to be you throw it 50 times a game because you're losing and have to catch up,'' Schwartz said. "But you see teams all over the league now that throw it a bunch of time and score a lot of points. The league is constantly changing. I don't know how long any record, offensively in particular, can stand. Receivers catch a lot more balls, it's just the way it is.''

If Johnson reaches the 2,000-yard mark on Sunday, perhaps he will be the one to surpass it in seasons down the road.

Schwartz thinks the 27-year-old Johnson is just scratching the surface.

"When it's all said and done we're not going to be talking about this being the highlight of his career,'' Schwartz said. "He's going to do some great things.

Johnson and Matthew Stafford got off to a bit of a slow start this season. In the Lions' 13-7 Oct. 22 loss at Chicago, Johnson had his least productive game of the season with just three catches for 34 yards.

That could make the 2,000-yard mark tougher to reach on Sunday at Ford Field. The Bears passing defense is tied for sixth-best in the NFL.

"They've been playing that Cover 2 system that they have since they've been there. They do real well with that and Cover 3 and you know disguise it,'' Johnson said. "They do a great job of their safeties and bringing them down real late. In film we see they haven't done it much, but for some reason when we see them they do a lot of disguising.

That reason could be one Calvin Johnson.

"It's not that it makes it harder, there are some opportunities we missed,'' Johnson said. "But they do a good job. We play them twice a year so they kind of know us inside and out like we know them.''

One of Johnson's attributes is he can play at any receiver position. We will see that again on Sunday against the Bears.

"We've still got to let the game come to us. They're going to need more attention on him with our receiving depth the way it is. If you're not going to get attention going into the last week then you're never going to get it,'' Linehan said. "So I just think we go through the game, guys have to be good around him. I think he'll still have a productive game, the way he's locked in.''

Johnson has averaged 156.7 yards over the last eight games. He's had 100-plus yards in each game with two games of 200-plus yards.

He was named to the Pro Bowl as the Lions lone representative this week.

"That's the biggest slam-dunk in Pro Bowl balloting,'' Schwartz said. "We're proud of him, we're proud that he represents us, we're proud when he's on the field on Sundays.''